CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Boosts Stake in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co raised its position in AbbVie Inc. (NYSE:ABBV - Free Report) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,070,994 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 43,380 shares during the quarter. AbbVie accounts for approximately 0.6% of CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest holding. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned about 0.12% of AbbVie worth $368,024,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ABBV. Quantbot Technologies LP lifted its position in shares of AbbVie by 35.8% during the fourth quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 1,047 shares of the company's stock worth $186,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of AbbVie by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Everence Capital Management Inc. now owns 53,171 shares of the company's stock worth $9,448,000 after purchasing an additional 15,550 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in AbbVie by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 39,453 shares of the company's stock worth $7,011,000 after purchasing an additional 3,439 shares during the period. Sky Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of AbbVie by 10.1% during the fourth quarter. Sky Investment Group LLC now owns 42,715 shares of the company's stock worth $7,590,000 after purchasing an additional 3,936 shares during the period. Finally, Wedmont Private Capital increased its stake in AbbVie by 16.5% in the 4th quarter. Wedmont Private Capital now owns 25,822 shares of the company's stock worth $4,523,000 after purchasing an additional 3,654 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 70.23% of the company's stock.

AbbVie Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ABBV traded down $2.74 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $170.25. 2,143,275 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,990,362. AbbVie Inc. has a 1 year low of $153.58 and a 1 year high of $218.66. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $198.47 and a 200-day moving average price of $187.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $301.17 billion, a P/E ratio of 70.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 0.55. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 17.94, a current ratio of 0.66 and a quick ratio of 0.55.

AbbVie (NYSE:ABBV - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 31st. The company reported $2.16 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $2.98 by ($0.82). AbbVie had a net margin of 7.59% and a return on equity of 296.28%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.79 EPS. Equities analysts expect that AbbVie Inc. will post 12.31 earnings per share for the current year.

AbbVie Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, April 15th will be issued a $1.64 dividend. This represents a $6.56 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.85%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 15th. AbbVie's dividend payout ratio is currently 273.33%.

Insider Activity

In other AbbVie news, EVP Perry C. Siatis sold 5,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $197.90, for a total transaction of $1,143,466.20. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 22,381 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,429,199.90. This represents a 20.52 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Timothy J. Richmond sold 29,917 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $202.90, for a total transaction of $6,070,159.30. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 44,284 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,985,223.60. This represents a 40.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 113,471 shares of company stock valued at $23,426,451 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 0.25% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ABBV shares. Truist Financial upped their target price on AbbVie from $211.00 to $217.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, February 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised AbbVie to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, March 17th. Morgan Stanley restated a "hold" rating on shares of AbbVie in a report on Friday, April 11th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on AbbVie from $208.00 to $215.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of AbbVie from $200.00 to $223.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 4th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $210.71.

About AbbVie

AbbVie Inc discovers, develops, manufactures, and sells pharmaceuticals worldwide. The company offers Humira, an injection for autoimmune and intestinal Behçet's diseases, and pyoderma gangrenosum; Skyrizi to treat moderate to severe plaque psoriasis, psoriatic disease, and Crohn's disease; Rinvoq to treat rheumatoid and psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, atopic dermatitis, axial spondyloarthropathy, ulcerative colitis, and Crohn's disease; Imbruvica for the treatment of adult patients with blood cancers; Epkinly to treat lymphoma; Elahere to treat cancer; and Venclexta/Venclyxto to treat blood cancers.